Sony B4U Tilda Basmati rice promo cancel on 1 day else £107.88 in advance

littlemisscheap

Sony B4U Tilda Basmati rice promotion 2 months free viewing (cancel deadline of 16th Nov) else...£107.88

Pay for 1 year's subscription in advance of £107.88 and you can't cancel after the 16th Nov either.

No paperwork all supposedly agreed over the phone when taking out promo 2 months ago on the phone.

Is this legal or binding as I feel they have helped themselves to my credit card account without my authorisation. Had they asked I would have said no I do not want their service anyway.

I have contacted my credit card provider and requested a refund as they suggest that if Egg refund the money then they will stop the servcie but not on my say so only from hearing from my credit card company.

Here is a copy of email sent to credit card company Egg:
Please note that Sony B$U has taken (helped themselves) to £107.88 without my permission or knowledge, I have just seen this on my account today and called them and they say following on from a 2 month free promotion and no cancellation phone call on the 16th November, they have entered me into a 12 month contract for subscription which I do not want and have told them so today (23rd Nov).

I have also advised that I do not want any service from them and to disconnect me immediately but they suggested I contact you to arrange to make a refund immediately and then they will stop the service and not before.

Please can you arrange for a refund as I have never signed nor agreed to a full year's subscription and certainly do not want one at any price and despite my protesting they will not stop the service unless you arrange for a refund first. Nothing has been received or signed for in writing to suggest that I want to buy this service as I simply do not!

Please contact me on mobile anytime:
00000 000000

or email:
x@y.co.uk



Please can someone tell me why does this company not need to provide a contract with a signature from me or even need to give me 14 days to cancel under distance selling regulations?

MarkyMarkD

With respect, littlemisscheap, presumably the details of the promotion were on the Tilda rice packet.

How did you possibly imagine a "2 months free subscription" deal was going to work? This sort of thing almost ALWAYS works on a "2 months free, then pay" basis. You also clearly provided your credit card details up front - why did you think they wanted this?

Egg SHOULD NOT refund you, just because you don't remember, or didn't properly find out, what you were getting into up front. If it's a minimum term 1 year contract, there's no reason why Sony OR Egg should refund you, IMHO.

I don't see the relevance of your comments about distance selling regulations. You've actually had 2 months to cancel - far more than 14 days. I don't know of any requirement for a signed written contract - you can enter into all sorts of contracts verbally (or online) and they are legally binding.

greenwich

You seem to be making a lot of sweeping statements in your email to Egg, such as that you never gave permission and had no knowledge, and you never agreed to a subscription. You might get lucky: Egg might decide it makes no difference to them to give you a refund as they can claim it back from Sony. But presumably Sony have a tape recording of your phone call in which they must have told you would be charged after 2 months. MarkyDMark is quite right. Why on earth should you get a refund?

littlemisscheap

Hmm appreciate your comments in trying to understand this but I genuinely figured that if I was charged it would be for their monthly subscription of c£10ish which I viewed as fine as I don't mind paying that for 1 months viewing over xmas period albeit not something I ever want to watch anyway (my husband likes it and other Asian channels about as much as I dislike them - we have very different taste in viewing hence why I'm usually logged on instead) but this gives me time to cancel anytime during that month they said if that is what you expected/wanted then you still had to ring on the 16th Dec (and not before as they would not accept a cancellation call before then - I tried to give but was not accepted when I took out the deal). The one year contract starts from the 16th Nov for the next 12 months - it should still require an authorisation or confirmation no? I gave them my credit card details thinking that they will take this one month's subscription if late cancelling and I could still give notice of say 30 days to cancel not be stuck with this crappy channel which I dislike and gets right on my nerves for most of next year and least of all have to pay for such a rotten experience. I really feel that if the worse comes to the worse and I am lumbered with it then fine I am beginning to be able to afford it but I really hate this channel and now the way the company does business too as I find it unfair that 1 day is all you get to cancel. In fact on that day I had a company meeting after work and was unable to call in time due to this.

MarkyMarkD

You did NOT have one day to cancel - you had 2 months. You can't cancel in advance - e.g. you can't sign up on 16 September and give notice for 16 October in advance - but you could have cancelled with immediate effect on any date in between.

The one year contract starts from the 16th Nov for the next 12 months - it should still require an authorisation or confirmation no

NO! You authorised the one year contract when you signed up for the two months free. That's how this deal (and many others like it) work.

You didn't read the terms of the offer, and made incorrect assumptions such as being able to cancel and pay on a "one month at a time" basis.

And now you've e-mailed Egg telling them this is an unauthorised transaction, which it is NOT.

If a retailer/supplier makes its customer aware of its terms in a reasonable way (such as in the terms of an offer on a rice packet) and the customer enters into the contract on those terms, they haven't done anything wrong unless the terms are ridiculously unreasonable. An annual contract is NOT unusual for contracts like this - it applies to a great number of things - and you should just read things properly before signing up in future.

Comments like "I genuinely figured" and "I gave them my credit card details thinking" just don't cut it - READ the terms before you AGREE to things!